Friday, April 2, 2010

The end of chemo didn't mean the end of tests and treatment. Yesterday, I went in for my second MUGA test. I was a bit worried about them accessing my vein a day after chemo but the tech managed it. It's getting hard and scarred though; sometimes it hurts to bend my elbow. I don't know how addicts do it - but then again, I guess they have that painkiller thing going on.

To recap, the MUGA test measures the functioning of the left ventricle of your heart, which herceptin can damage. They take some of your blood, make you sit in the waiting room for 30 minutes while they do the Cordon Bleu thing and blend your blood with some radioactive isotopes. Once your blood is the right mix and consistency, they pipe it back into your body.

The nuclear chef needs to do some more studying - it gave me a huge metallic taste on top of the metallic taste I get from chemo. Imagine sucking on pennies and then putting a rusty screwdriver in your mouth, and you about have it.

They put you in the gamma scan machine for 20 minutes and you are done. Results to be sent to the doctor in three days.

Three days for him - for me - I have no idea when I'll actually hear. I get a slight break from the chemo infusion room - I don't have to go back until the 14th. I may not find out until then but the one thing you learn in this process is how to wait for test results.

I'll just assume that everything is good until told it is not.

My next medical appointment is April 8. That will make it full 9 days from one doctor's appointment to another. That's a record since I was diagnosed and is a sign that I'm on the downside of the cancer recovery process.

1 comment:

Yeah! Nine whole days between doctor appointments! And I can relate to the MUGA scans and Herceptin treatments. Fortunately, the Herceptin didn't do anything nasty to my heart. The only thing I had to do during treatment was to drop back from exercising for awhile because one of the readings was a bit lower than the previous one.

Anyway, you're coming down the home stretch, and Herceptin was a breeze compared to the chemo. And I see my oncologist only once every 6 months now!!

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About Me

I live with metastatic breast cancer. .
I was diagnosed 2009 with Stage 2 Her2+ breast cancer. Mastectomy followed, 6 rounds of chemo and a year of herceptin. A few months after I finished, cancer was found in my liver-incurable. I've done chemo after chemo, has my liver partially removed and did cyber knife radiation. Like all metsters, I'll be on treatment until I die.
I'm a former High School Secretary, wife, and mother of two great sons.
To read my entire cancer story, go to www.butdoctorihatepink.com and find the post called "What the heck is that?" on September 2, 2009, or look at the top of the blog and click on "chronological posts". (Some issues with the feed on that but it will get you started). If you are a blogger who can give me a link, I'd appreciate it very much. To email me, click on my profile and you'll find a email addy. I answer every email from a cancer patient. Also like my Facebook page, www.facebook.com/Facebook. I'm butdoctorihatepink on Instagram and @butdocihatepink on Twitter. Like me while you can!